An earlier airline statement said the ATR-42 turboprop aircraft had lost contact en route from Chitral.

“A plane has crashed and locals told us that it is on fire,” said Saeed Wazir, a senior local police official.

“Police and rescue officials are on the way but have yet not reached on site.”

The plane came down near the town of Havelian in Abbottabad district in the province.

Pakistan’s last major air disaster was in 2015 when a Pakistani military helicopter crashed in a remote northern valley, killing eight people including the Norwegian, Philippine and Indonesian envoys and the wives of Malaysian and Indonesian envoys.

The deadliest crash was in 2010, when an Airbus 321 operated by private airline Airblue and flying from Karachi crashed into hills outside Islamabad while about to land, killing all 152 on board.

The accident was blamed on a confused captain and a hostile cockpit atmosphere in an official report.